'THE SUDDENLY FAMOUS DOCTOR EINSTEIN' 317
individual [E48]. Later that same month he cited 'my activity in Jewish causes
and, more generally, my Jewish nationality' as reasons for his resignation [E49].
He was persuaded to stay on, however. In March 1923, shortly after French and
Belgian troops occupied the Ruhrgebiet, he resigned again, declaring that the
League had neither the strength nor the good will for the fulfillment of its great
task [E50]. In 1924 he rejoined, since he now felt that 'he had been guided by a
passing mood of discouragement rather than by clear thinking' [E51].*
Evidently Einstein's life and moods were strongly affected by the strife and
violence in Germany in the early 1920s. On October 8, 1922, he left with his wife
for a five-month trip abroad. 'After the Rathenau murder, I very much welcomed
the opportunity of a long absence from Germany, which took me away from tem-
porarily increased danger' [Kll]. After short visits to Colombo, Singapore, Hong
Kong, and Shanghai, they arrived in Japan for a five-week stay. En route, Ein-
stein received word that he had been awarded the Nobel prize.* On the way
back, they spent twelve days in Palestine, then visited Spain, and finally returned
to Berlin in February 1923. Another trip in May/June 1925 took them to Argen-
tina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Wherever they came, from Singapore to Montevideo,
they were especially feted by local Jewish communities.
It was, one may say, a full life. There came a time when Einstein had to pay.
Early in 1928, while in Zuoz in Switzerland, he suffered a temporary physical
collapse brought on by overexertion. An enlargement of the heart was diagnosed.
As soon as practicable, he was brought back to Berlin, where he had to stay in bed
for four months. He fully recuperated but remained weak for almost a year.
'Sometimes ... he seemed to enjoy the atmosphere of the sickroom, since it per-
mitted him to work undisturbed' [Rl].
During that period of illness—on Friday, April 13, 1928, to be precise—Helen
Dukas began working for Einstein. She was to be his able and trusted secretary
for the rest of his life and became a member of the family.
In the summer of 1929, Einstein bought a plot of land in the small village of
Gaputh, near Berlin, a few minutes' walk from the broad stream of the Havel.
On this site a small house was built for the family. It was shortly after his fiftieth
birthday,| an<l several friends joined to celebrate this event by giving him a sail-
boat. Sailing on the Havel became one of his fondest pleasures.
Not long after his recovery, Einstein was on the road again. He was at Cal
Tech from December 1930 till March 1931, and again from December 1931 till
March 19324 Those were the years when things began to look bad in Germany.
In 1927, Einstein, Curie, and Lorentz prepared a report for the committee, dealing with an inter-
national bureau of meteorology [E52]. Einstein's final resignation from the committee came in April
1932 [D2].
"See Chapter 30.
fThe city of Berlin intended to present him with a summer house, but after many altercations, not
all of them funny, this plan fell through [Rl].
:f This was principally the doing of Millikan, who since 1924 had been urging Einstein to spend part
of his time in Pasadena [M3].